August 5 in LGBTQ History

1970: In New York City, the Rockefeller Five appear in court, but their trial is postponed (charges are later dismissed). Daughters of Bilitis activist Isabel Miller (which is a pseudonym of Alma Routsong) is among the speakers at a rally held after their court appearance.

2011: The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit upholds a lower court ruling in Fields v. Smith, striking down Wisconsin’s “Inmate Sex Change Prevention Act.” The law barred doctors in Wisconsin prisons from prescribing hormone treatment or sex reassignment surgery to transgender inmates. The court found that denial of treatment without a medically necessary reason constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.